LED Ellipsoidal Hacks

[egproductions]

Are there any known hacks of using a source four jr with any LED lights?

I know source 4 makes an LED ellipsoidal, however, it's a bit cost prohibitive and I want something more flexible that I can take apart since I don't always want the weight of an ellipsiodal but at times I'll want the throw of one.

It would be great if I could use my Westcott Skylux or Alzo 3300 with my source four jr assembly. Has anyone attempted something like this?

 

[Michael Carter]

Source four makes/made a 150 HID leko that's equivalent to about 500 watts. The globes available were like 4200k though, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were (at least) a 6500k that worked with it. I saw some of them used on eBay recently for like $150 a unit.

There are also many Source 4 Par conversions to 575 HMI hot start or cold start. Thousands of these were made for the auto/trade show industry and many are on the used market. The par is a crazy-efficient fixture. You don't get the full "follow spot" look of the Leko, but with the lenses they're really versatile. I've got one with a 6500k globe, so it's either 1/2 CTO or I just color balance to it and let natural light in the BG go nicely warm. It puts out the equivalent of about a 2k fresnel or redhead (that reflector & lens combo really makes the most of the photons), but daylight and only pulls 575. There are 5500k globes for it, but they're close to $200 vs. $65 or so for the 6500's.

For a fresnel, leko or par, I'd imagine we're some time away from affordable LEDs beating a ballasted globe for efficiency, since a point source is part of what makes those units sing (not so much with a fresnel I suppose, but fresnels are designed for a point source as well).

 

[Mitch Gross]

I know it's not what you asked for, but the Hive Wasp plasma light can accept the front assembly of a standard full-sized Source-4 Leko and deliver a terrific result. I know a number of people who have purchased the Hive ONLY to use it in this way. The Wasp is a 275w unit with the output of a 575w HMI, at least in this configuration. It can also be adjusted from 4800K to 6700K color with excellent CRI throughout.